I bought a Titanware cooking set (12 pc.) from Sam’s over the weekend and also have the same thought that most of the people posted here. Does the cookware’s titanium coating safer than Teflon? Does the pans last longer than what it is promised?

It seems the Titanware is a no-name (unknown) company and the product ownership percentages are small. I really don’t have the peace of mind but only time will tell.

My wife and I just bought a set of Titanware cookware at Sam's Club. It is titanium-based and has the NSF seal. Also comes with a 30 year warranty. We were impressed with the demo, and the price -- only $288 for a 12-pc set.

After reading through this post, it sounds like it is extremely similar, if not identical to, the Ameriware/Vollrath brand. And, like others on this thread, I'm concerned about the manufacturing process and use of perfluorochemicals -- PFC's or PTFE's.

Unfortunately I can find absolutely no information on the Titanware brand (other than their own web site). Nothing on BBB.org or NSF.org, and almost no hits via Google search. I think the cookware is good, but I do not like the fact that I can find NO information on this brand or company. Like others have mentioned, it makes an otherwise appealing "quality" product look like a scam. And no one wants to be scammed.

Does anyone know anything about Titanware, or if they operate under a different name? Thanks!

I realize the post is a little dated but this info may help someone.

Titanware is coated with QUANTANIUM. You can even see it on their website in pictures. Quantanium manufacturer (easily found on the net) has confirmed that Quantanium branded coating is made with PTFE (aka Teflon). Any claims that Titanware / Quantanium does not contain PTFE / Teflon are blatant lies.

Now, Titanware does not claim anything either way on their website. They are very careful not to mention Teflon or PTFE at all on it. However, their sales demonstrators at Sam's clubs, etc. say that the cookware contains NO Teflon/ PTFE.

Now, either they are outright liars or themselves misinformed. The fact remains that since the manufacturer of the coating confirmed (you can still find the info on the net, search for Quantanium PTFE ) it contains PTFE, then it does.

This has nothing to do with "PTFE good/bad for you"by the way, that is a separate matter. However, when they lie to you to sell you the pans by claiming they are something that they are not, that is just wrong. Don't get scammed.

I accidently burnt the plastic handle of a set of Ameriware pans at myfriend's house and need to replace it, but I am leary of their website - has anybody ordered anything off of their website and had a problem with their credit card?

I have had Ameriware pans for several years, at least 5. I purchased them at a Home Show. I love them! They really do live up the demos. I have a second home that I need cookware for, so being at Sam's, I saw the Titanware. It looks just like the Ameriware, and sounds like it as well. It is lower priced than what I purchased the Ameriware for, so I decided to purchase it.

I am not sure of the whole Teflon stuff, but I can say the demo on cooking was what sold me. I am a life long user, as it is wonderful. Believe the cooking demo!

These Ameriware pans are really good - go get 'em. I bought an 8" and a 12" at - NOT COSTCO - but Smart and Final -both for about $22. I seasoned the pans according to the instructions on the label, and I'm really happy with these pans. The cook surface heats up beautifully without oil, then before adding the food, I use a little butter - which sizzles just like Julia Child's demos, or olive oil. Admittedly, I haven't used them for the full 25 years, having purchased within the last 6 months, but I wouldn't want another moderate to medium high sautee/omelet pan. Really high heat frying needs a well seasoned cast iron pan. That's my 2 cents plain!

I think the pan is called Titanium Exclusive. I really want to know what the non-stick coating is. The demo at the fair was impressive, but the pans were really costly!

I got the Vollrath pro-hg from the LA fair (got a lot of extra pieces to sweeten the deal), and after reading all the info here... i'm feeling a little ripped off. Some issues it appears have to do with seasoning (heating the metal to expand, put oil to fill the pores and create a seal) the pans, so I'm waiting right now (left a message with Vollrath requesting their recommendations for seasoning the pans). There is a lot of good advice http://www.titaniumexclusive.com/tips.html

It seems there's a "right" temperature where you're supposed to toss your food in. If you use the incorrect oils (flashpoints are too low http://missvickie.com/howto/spices/oils.html) the oil will burn and leave a residue which might contribute to nonstick not working.

It also seems there's a special way to clean pans, while they're still warm, so that the oil residue will wash off.

I'm concerned with the PTFE/POA whatever.

Just wish i had purchased all this at COSTCO for the return. *sigh*

Guest wrote:

Well, I was at a home show last year and saw this demo on a new nonstick method that got my interest. I don't remember the brand name but these pans were made from cast iron and titanium. no additional surface material was put on these. No teflon.

I've had it (bought only one pan: it was about $180) for a year now and my only complaint was that it's rather heavy. It's pretty thick and has no rivets on the inside of the pan. This thing was made in Germany and they claim it's the last pan you'll ever buy. At the price they wanted, it better be.

Like others in this thread, I purchased Titanware cookware set from Sam's. While the Titanware web page offers detailed information, I was also wondering whether I should be concerned since I couldn't find any user reviews or product info when I Googled, Froogled, or even Ebayed the search word "Titanware" or "Titan ware".

I could return the set - I mean, non-stick properties are great - but lots of products out there are non-stick nowadays. The main reason I purchased the cookware is to be able to cook food without having any worries about the bad elements in Teflon or aluminum contaminating the food served to my family. Plus, $288 is not a bad deal considering you REALLY can't find the product anywhere else for less...haha. The product had the NSF label on it, and that does stand for something. I was able verify, via the NSF web page, the cookware is NSF approved, but it wasn't a very straightfoward find.

To verify your Titanware cookware items are NSF certified, access http://www.nsf.org/certified/food/. Enter 'cookware' in the 'Product Search' box. A list of cookware manufacturing companies (not the brand names) displays. On the bottom of each Titanware piece, you have an item number, e.g. TW10.0FP. You can CTRL+f to find the item number on the page or look for 'WESTMINSTER, INC.' which is also engraved on the bottom of each piece. The item number of each Titanware piece is listed under the "WESTMINSTER, INC." heading on the web page, and the web page does indicate that product numbers are maintained daily.

I'm really surprised at what I found here. I had a reason to come back here to look at a post we'd sent to this forum in late Dec 2008 concerning Titanware and whether it contains PTFE. In the post I detailed conversations/emails I had with a home office representative of Titanware, aafter having purchased it in Sam's Club. He flatly stated there was no PTFE in Titanware. Yet - at the time - the parent company's web site itself (Whitford) talked about PTFE in Titanware. The home office rep challenged me in an email to provide him with references where I'd heard that Titanware has PTFE, and I supplied him web sites as well as pages on their own web site, that confirmed it (not opinion sites such as this, but industry/manufacturer sites). I never heard back from him. But what DID happen was that the links I sent him in my email to back up my statement about PTFE in Titanware - suddenly disappeared from the web altogether (including Whitford's own site). I never got another response from them (though I certainly kept my emails as well as the response I got from him before he refused to respond).

After 5 months we ended up returning the Titanware set to Sam's (they were great - no hassle, and a full refund) because of the coating coming off, not because of the price we'd paid. Up to that point we still believed we probably had a better quality cookware than what Sam's was selling for half the price, even though we had found out it also had PTFE in it (see below).

Following is the next-to-last paragraph from my Dec 08 post on this forum that has since been removed for an unknown reason (like the other references I'd found and supplied to Whitford/Titanware).

"I've done considerable research on PTFE, and we've concluded that it isn't - in itself - dangerous if used according to instructions (i.e. <500 degrees). So when we returned it to Sam's, I immediately purchased their house-brand set at 50% of the cost of Titanware. Interestingly, we've never used anything EXCEPT the supplied plastic utensils on the Titanware in the 5 months we owned it. Yet by the time we returned it, one of the LESS-used pieces actually had a few scratches that showed small amounts of the metal underneath the non-stick coating. That was our last straw."

UPDATE: We've now had the Members Mark (Sam's brand) cookware for just short of a year - twice as long as we had the Titanware - and there's virtually no sign of wear in it at all. It's turned out far better for us than the Titanware, and at half the cost. And by the way - there was another Titanware salesman in Sam's a few months back, and he was touting the safety of their coating. He was very careful not to mention PTFE or Teflon in his presentation I noticed, but the implication was very, very clear - that there was no such ingredient in THEIR product. When he was free for a moment, I told him of my experience and findings - even on the Whitford web site - and he became vocally angry, flat out denying any such thing and stopping just short of calling me a liar. I named the name of the person from Whitford whose email I still have, and the conversation basically ended at that point.

Make your own decisions. Just be aware that for some reason, even this site seems to have controversial things about Whitford/Titanware mysteriously vanish. And I honestly can't think of a reason for that, since this would seem to be an independent site. I hadn't ever bothered to come back to look here since posting the comment almost a year ago. But now I think I'll check back from time to time to see what happens with this one....

Just be aware that for some reason, even this site seems to have controversial things about Whitford/Titanware mysteriously vanish. And I honestly can't think of a reason for that, since this would seem to be an independent site. I hadn't ever bothered to come back to look here since posting the comment almost a year ago. But now I think I'll check back from time to time to see what happens with this one....

We don't delete or edit any comments unless they are blatant examples of spam or extremely offensive/hateful remarks. There are plenty of opinions posted by readers that I do not agree with, but I do not touch the comments.

About 8 years ago I purchased the full set of Ameriware and a few extra pans as well from a seller at a local military base. About 2 years into my ownership several stopped non-sticking after I burned a few things. I called Cooks warehouse to rteturn them. They promptly send my pans back and they refused to exchange them. So much for the twenty five year warranty. Called it normal wear. I tossed those three. I think the warranty is if they are sitting on the shelf and you don't use them they should be OK. Since then, of the six remaining pans, two have minimal non stick properties and once has begun chipping and blistering off the coating. I stopped using this one altogether. The other three are hardly used and seem to be OK. Truth is I really liked these pans while they were holding up. They were great. I wish I had purchasd them from costco. But there is a new huckster at my local base who says she will replace the ones I have if I bring them in. I'll find out tomorrow. I relayed my story to her. She said, not to call but just send the pans back to Vollrath and they will replace them. Anyway, thats my experience with the pans and company

I purchased my pans at Sam's Club about 5 years ago. The salesman included a set of hard plastic utensils to use with them. It took two times of using the included utensils to discover why he was using the soft spatulas. Wood and hard plastic utensils will mar the non-stick surface, not scratch, just mark. I immediately started using the soft type spatulas for stirring in the pots, pans, and skillets and have had no new marks. The other killer of these pans is using high heat. That is a NO, NO. They heat very nicely on med-high. I like my pans for stove top as well as the oven. They are the only set I have so they are used a lot and hold up well except for the handles which have a tendency to rust under the rubber covers if there is any kind of imperfection in the metal. I have removed all of them and crocheted handle mitts which I use instead.

The Ameriware cookware I purchased at Costco is adequate - the actual pots, that is. The lids are disgusting. Flat lids - don't allow for enough space for foods that cook down, collect condensation and then drip all over, hard to clean and to polish, vents that self-vent especially when you don't want them to do so. I have brought my old cookware lids back into the house because Ameriware lids are so bad. I would never recommend the product and would return the set I have if Ameriware would take it back. I phoned, received no answer for several weeks and finally got through - was told nothing could be return if it had been used. I guess I should have intuited that most lids are dome-shaped for a reason, but I didn't.

Stay away from Ameriware, unless you are prepared to deal with really awful lids.

I bought a set for christmas, and tried to return it because I did not like it. Howard, the vice president, said I could not return it for that reason. I could replace it for another piece, but there would be no refund. I told him the pans were slopped and not flat, I did not like the handles that were suppose to be resistant to heat but were not, and that overall they were not worth the money. I told him I would try to get a refund from the NEX, where I bought it, and Howard said that he would call the store and tell them not to refund me. I later found out he was the vice president, what a jerk. Do Not Buy Ameriware. There are so many other pan sets out in this world. Don' do it!

When I have a moment I would like to read ALL of the posts concerning NSF certification.

In the meantime, I hope that there is someone out there that can shed some light on my issue concerning NSF. I recently purchased chocolate tempering machines that perform 3 functions. Primarily the machine is a tempering (pre-crystallization) chocolate and then filling the molds and on some machines vibrate the air bubbles out that form in the chocolate. I was/am planning on using the machines in my commercial kitchen however they are NOT NSF certified. The Environmental Health Department requested that the machines get NSF certified. My question is this. If the tempering machine manufacturers do not produce machines that are NSF certified how can every commercial kitchen in the US be certified by the Health Department? Having had a conversation with the folks at NSF their words were that they frown upon field representatives of "for profit" companies going out and making a visit to a commercial kitchen and having that piece of equipment labeled NSF (field labeling).
I think that foreign companies (in the case Belgium) do business in the US they should have to go through some type of scrutiny before they are able to sell their product here. I am now forced to come up with between 2 and 4 thousand dollars to have this piece of equipment labeled NSF. I do not think it is fair that the consumer of these types of products have to bear the costs in order to use them in a commercial setting. It is insane.
Ok, I feel a little better that I got this off my chest! Thanks for reading.

with regard to forcing scrutiny to prevent 'victims' from 'victimizing' themselves, if you're setting up a commercial operation and have not taken great pains to become aware of the multitude of all kinds, shapes and sizes of state / local regulations and requirements, it's going to be a bumpy ride.